Decisive contradictions, undetected

We claim to depend on evidence of science for decision-making in healthcare. Nevertheless, we rarely stop being injudicious and scientific. The best example lies in our decision to disallow those unvaccinated to enter shopping malls and board planes. Unvaccinated are not criminals. Israel had disallowed Pfizer CEO’s entry into the country for not completing the immunisation. Might be, he knew it was better to mingle with a Covid-19 patient than testing the unsure vaccine on himself. There are many Covid-19 cases among vaccinated people. Still, a large portion of unvaccinated people have been safe from infection. One can, perhaps, buy diseases, but no more wisdom with money.

Can’t the fully-vaccinated people have the virus strains with them to infect others? There is no account of how many vaccinated people fell sick and how many succumbed to the disease. The lockdown relaxations allowing people to travel by local trains, enter the restaurant, shopping malls, etc. have been ruling the pages of newspapers. Our media usually raises questions against every government decision. But none opened their mouth against an issue commoners face. Maybe, as it used to do every time, the government has miscalculated how people take the decision. On the other side, the media has proved that its job is only reporting. It seems to have lost the larger territory of journalism in its silence. A strict regulation with discrimination within a section usually opens a floodgate of opportunities for bribes at the grass-root level. That is the loud talk and reality people abhor.

The Supreme Court refused to intervene in the plea demanding compulsory vaccination for the entire public. If the government is making it mandatory, the Court finds no room for its interference. Such a perplexing decision is vulnerable to an unanswerable question of individual rights. Does one such exist? Many people may not want it for reasons they feel good.

Such a discriminatory decision is worse than a total lockdown. The permission to the vaccinated people to travel in local trains has made 25,000 people living in Navi Mumbai ineligible for a ticket or season ticket. It seems the person sitting at the counter dictates rules. There is no standard regulation. The counter officials often deny tickets for essential travelling without an identity card of a government employee. Somewhere only monthly passes are issued. At the same time, government officials and essential service providers already have the relaxation. The relaxation to the private sector comes with the condition of obtaining QR codes from district officers. Many of them do not entertain private demands for permission so easily. Even after the orders, many of the designated officers were unaware of such a rule. A private organisation couldn’t find out the office of the designated officer who could issue the QR code.

On one side, there is strict regulation. On the other side, there is relaxation. A fishing boat is afloat. People who took both doses expecting hassle-free travel permission without the RTPCR test were later required to undergo the test. Some businesses flourished at the cost of public torments. Some segments become wealthier when most people lose everything in their life. The cruel reality is intact.

Of course, if the government is ready with a vaccine for all citizens, we understand that the government is “taking care of the public”. The government has indicated that the universal vaccination would be over by December 2021. But, if the public is reluctant for their good reasons, the government’s care is suspicious.

An all-of-a-sudden decision of making two doses of vaccination compulsory could land many people in trouble. It is impossible to get it overnight. The decision should have a reasonable relaxing time. Covishiled requires an 85-day gap between the two doses. Even if a person wants to follow the government decision, he has to wait for 86 days. A hasty worker with no capacity to have a paid-jab has to suffer the tightrope for three more months. Free vaccines are not available easily without a godfather at the inoculation centres. Until the two doses are complete, the law forbids his presence in the public place and the right to travel by train, as if they are criminals. But the jam-packed transports continue to throng the roads.

By the mid of August, the full-vaccinated people in Mumbai constituted only 20%. Out of this, only a few of them must be regular travellers for livelihood. Initially, the government vaccinated only senior citizens. They do not travel for jobs. The active working-age population got it late. Even after the coverage of the lower-age category, many people were unable to take it due to the infection in the second wave that hit the younger population. An infected person cannot take the jab within three months. The infection rate among people who took the first jab was substantial. They could not take the second dose even five months after the first dose. Our health experts and policymakers did not assess the reality before embarking on an ambivalent policy. Doesn’t the government want the vulnerable and unfortunate segment to work and earn their livelihood?

Kerala reports 50-60 per cent of the daily new cases of infection reported nationally. It is observing an undeclared emergency and treats everyone as a law offender. Interestingly, those who are out to shop liquors face no wrath of law enforcers. But, if you are out to buy essential items without a valid vaccine certificate, police can take action against you. People are afraid of moving out. The Kerala High Court warned the State twice, which led to a slight relaxation. However, one does not require any certificate for shopping liquor. There are colonies of variable rules to confuse and terrify people.

The Washington Post recently carried the news. The entire US population took both the jabs. Nevertheless, the delta variant is active. Vaccine makers are doing their business. They will continue to do their business. A French virologist and Nobel laureate Luc Montagnier called the universal anti-Covid-19 vaccination an “unacceptable mistake.” He also called it, “scientific and medical error”. Vaccine and drug makers want victims to make money.

In March this year, Israeli television reported that the CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla and his delegation postponed their Israel visit because they did not take the second dose. Pfizer shipped millions of doses around the world. While the world was rushing for the jab, Bourla and his team did not take it fully! India wants every citizen to have the two doses to allow an out tour. Without earning, people need a loan to pay the penalty.